Tech-Wales, an IT solutions provider based in Swansea, has more than 30 years in IT experience and provides a nationwide base of customers with a suite of Microsoft products including Office 365 and SharePoint. Tech-Wales also provides bespoke IT support services to organisations across the UK.
The Challenge
Tech-Wales was ambitious and was looking to grow and strengthen in order to recruit the best staff and win the biggest contracts. The company’s managing director, Adrian Williams, knew his company would need to operate like a larger service provider if it wanted to act like one in the market. He set about looking at how he could do this without impacting on operations and customer service.
“We wanted to streamline our businesses processes, which would lay the foundations for us to grow and scale in terms of project size and head count,” Williams said. “Being one of the only companies that don’t tie customers into 12-month support contracts, customer service is especially important to our business, which meant we needed to find a way of changing our business processes without impacting on our service levels to customers.”
“After talking to Software Alliance Wales about the CompTIA Trustmark programme, and how it was designed specifically for the IT industry, we signed up straight away.” he said.
Solving the Problem
Tech-Wales worked closely with Software Alliance Wales, CompTIA and an independent assessor to go through a comprehensive assessment of the company’s current processes and procedures, taking a close look at how they can be improved in order to grow and scale. They were then offered an improvement framework that would allow them to make gradual steps towards more flexible business processes that worked for them and their business.
“We were set achievable goals with realistic deadlines, which worked great as this meant that things couldn’t get missed and we had something tangible to work towards — this is something that would have been impossible if we had tried to go through a similar process alone,” Williams said. “In addition, the knowledge and expertise from our assessor were invaluable.”
Upon completion, Tech-Wales was recommended to CompTIA by the assessor to be recognised as a “best in class” IT provider and was awarded the CompTIA IT Business Trustmark in April 2013. The company then went on to earn the CompTIA Accredit UK Trustmark+ in August 2013, and is now one of an elite but growing number of accredited companies in the UK.
Since having the Trustmark+, Tech-Wales has doubled its annual revenues, broken into new markets — winning its biggest contract to date with a large automotive manufacturer — and nearly doubled its headcount. Williams is confident that this success is set to continue.
“Since having all the right procedures in place, it feels like a huge weight has been lifted and we’ve been able to focus more on evolving the business and working towards achieving our company vision,” Williams said. “In just over two years we’ve been able to break new markets, win new contracts and recruit some great new staff — there is no question that our CompTIA Accredit UK Trustmark+ was crucial to this success and long may it continue!”
Looking ahead, Williams plans to continue working with Software Alliance Wales and CompTIA and intends to renew Tech-Wales’ Trustmark+ so that he can continue onwards and upwards. “We want to stay on the path to success that we’re on and renewing is paramount to this,” he said. “The support we get from Software Alliance Wales and CompTIA is too precious to our business, for us to renew was a no-brainer.”
Are You Ready for Accreditation?
CompTIA offers the opportunity to earn an IT Business Trustmarks or Accredit UK Trustmark+ to UK IT companies that can demonstrate sound business best practices while providing quality IT services.
For clients and customers, it demonstrates a commitment to excellence and that the company pledges to follow a robust code of practices that meet or exceed the industry standard level of service their customers will receive. To enjoy the same benefits, submit an application today or get in touch to set up a meeting with an adviser.
